HYMENOPTERAN

[hy.me.nop.ter.an] n [NL Hymenoptera, fr. Gk, neut. pl. of hymenopteros membrane-winged, fr. hymen + pteron wing--more at feather] (ca. 1842): any of an order (Hymenoptera) of highly specialized insects with complete metamorphosis that include the bees, wasps, ants, ichneumon flies, sawflies, gall wasps, and related forms, often associate in large colonies with complex social organization, and have usu. four membranous wings and the abdomen generally borne on a slender pedicel -- hymenopteran adj -- hy.me.nop.ter.ous adj